Teresa Czyż

Abstract The article offers a survey of basic conceptions where the spatial and functional structures of large cities are concerned, in the light of work carried out by Polish geographers and city planners. An attempt is made to systematise the notions employed in this field of research. The primary focus is on the way in which the urban agglomeration and the metropolitan area have been conceived, with special attention being paid to the relations between these conceptions, considered in respect of the morphological and functional aspects to the structure of the large city. An assessment is also made of cognitive and planning achievements when it comes to the delimitation of urban agglomerations and metropolitan areas in Poland. It is the view presented here that the metropolis and its metropolitan area, serving in the concentration of higher-order socio-economic functions and international-scale links, represents a settlement organised to a higher level in functional terms than the urban agglomeration. The basis adopted in characterising the functional properties of metropolitan areas in Poland is the division of urban functions by precedence relations into those that are regional, national or supra-national (international) in scope. Within this division, the term ‘urban agglomeration’ is used to denote a regional or national centre, while the terms ‘metropolitan area’ and ‘metropolis’ are only employed with reference to a large city with well-developed international functions. Under this classification of the large cities of Poland, Warsaw is a metropolitan area, whereas Katowice, Cracow, Poznań, Wrocław, Łódź, and Gdańsk are all urban agglomerations. It is suggested that the cognitive studies of metropolises being carried out in Poland should move on from the examination of socio-economic functions to consider the network of links offering connections with other metropolises, as well as to the testing of a hypothesis regarding the weakening of ties between the metropolis and the region surrounding it.

Keywords: aglomeracje miejskie, obszar metropolitalny, funkcje wysokiego rzędu, sieci powiązań międzynarodowych

Teresa Czyż [tczyz@amu.edu.pl], Institute of Socio-Economic Geography and Space Economy, Adam Mickiewicz University, Fredry 10, 61-701 Poznań, Poland

Citation

APA: Czyż, T. (2009). Koncepcje aglomeracji miejskiej i obszaru metropolitalnego w Polsce. Przegląd Geograficzny, 81(4), 445-459. https://doi.org/10.7163/PrzG.2009.1.1
MLA: Czyż, Teresa. "Koncepcje aglomeracji miejskiej i obszaru metropolitalnego w Polsce". Przegląd Geograficzny, vol. 81, no. 4, 2009, pp. 445-459. https://doi.org/10.7163/PrzG.2009.1.1
Chicago: Czyż, Teresa. "Koncepcje aglomeracji miejskiej i obszaru metropolitalnego w Polsce". Przegląd Geograficzny 81, no. 4 (2009): 445-459. https://doi.org/10.7163/PrzG.2009.1.1
Harvard: Czyż, T. 2009. "Koncepcje aglomeracji miejskiej i obszaru metropolitalnego w Polsce". Przegląd Geograficzny, vol. 81, no. 4, pp. 445-459. https://doi.org/10.7163/PrzG.2009.1.1